The imaging informatics entrepreneur who helped drive radiology’s transition to speech recognition is returning with a new start-up. Michael Mardini is bringing Vware.ai out of stealth to commercialize technology created at Mass General Brigham for developing and deploying agentic AI.
Mardini’s roots in radiology go back decades, and he’s been involved in at least three startups that had successful exits…
- Talk Technology, an early developer of speech recognition and workflow applications acquired by Agfa HealthCare in 2001.
- Commissure, a radiology reporting developer acquired by Nuance in 2007. Nuance used Commissure’s RadWhere as the foundation for PowerScribe 360, which came under Microsoft’s umbrella with its 2022 purchase of Nuance.
- National Decision Support Company (NDSC), a developer of clinical decision support software acquired by Change Healthcare in 2018.
All of Mardini’s ventures have focused on improving radiologist productivity, which remains an issue given rising imaging volume and a stagnant workforce.
- Speech recognition-based reporting created a leap in radiologist productivity, and Mardini sees a similar jump possible with agentic AI, especially as many healthcare providers are creating their own AI agents.
But developing and deploying AI agents often involves significant IT complexity. And that’s where Vware comes in.
- Vware has taken technology developed at Mass General Brigham’s MGB AI division under the purview of Keith Dreyer, DO, PhD, and is adapting it for the commercial market as Composer IQ. Mardini and Dreyer discussed the new venture in an interview with The Imaging Wire.
Dreyer likens the technology behind Composer IQ to an agentic AI builder and orchestration platform that not only hosts AI agents but also enables subject-matter experts – like radiologists – with no programming experience to develop agents for their own use.
- There are already hundreds of agents running within Composer IQ, including Case Engine, which loads relevant patient data radiologists need for interpreting images. Other agents are available for tasks like reading coronary artery calcium scans, billing optimization, and case reporting.
Vware plans to offer Composer IQ directly to radiology facilities as well as through partnerships with PACS and AI companies. The firm will be discussing the technology at the upcoming RSNA 2026 (although it won’t be exhibiting).
The Takeaway
Will lightning strike a fourth time for Michael Mardini and Vware? Only time will tell, but there’s no question that by focusing on agentic AI, he’s once again targeted one of the hottest areas of radiology for his latest entrepreneurial venture.
